


The Gas Station Attendant Social Link

by KaiKayKoa



Series: Gas Station Attendant Social Link AU [1]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: //sorry hold on i forgot how to tag things please bear with me, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:12:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26460187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaiKayKoa/pseuds/KaiKayKoa
Summary: A canon-divergent au, where the persona 4 protagonist, Souji Seta, gets to form a bond with the ever mysterious Moel Oil gas station attendant!As well as some extra works, such as the ever so fun social link invitations, to show their interactions outside of social link events.
Series: Gas Station Attendant Social Link AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105028
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	1. Rank 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> > You have established the Gas Station Attendant Social Link of the Nullity Arcana.

“It is pretty boring,” Souji thought to himself.

He and his new brigade of friends had managed to successfully rescue Yukiko Amagi from the TV world. Now, Souji wandered around town on a peaceful day in Inaba. “I could attend practice... wait. That was yesterday...

“Yosuke’s at work... Should I try calling Chie? No, she said she would visit Yukiko today...” he continued to mutter to himself.

He walked around the quiet shopping district and heard the bugs make their noise. He glanced at Aiya, the Chinese restaurant. “Maybe I should get a bite.”

He felt his pockets and his expression turned grim. “Yeah... I had to buy equipment the other day, and new stationery...”

Souji continued to mutter to himself until he turned his eyes towards the bulletin board. Ignoring the poster that resembled the one in the eerie bedroom, his interest was piqued by the new job openings. “Envelope maker... translator, no I don’t think I can do that... _volunteer_ origami crane folder..?”

He rubbed his eyes for a bit and looked at the board as a whole. “What about on-site part-time jobs? That should be interesting” he said as his eyes darted around.

He saw one poster, saying “Assistant Daycare Helper Needed.” He pondered over it for a while until he shook his head. “No... I don’t think I can handle that right now...”

Souji’s train of thought stopped as he felt a drip on his nose. He sniffed the air and looked up at the sky. “Oh yeah, it’s supposed to rain by the afternoon— pretty late... but it’s still the afternoon,” he said to himself. “I wonder if I could get back home in time...” he told himself in a bored tone.

He began to walk home, unworried about the rain, until it started to pour even harder, of course. He had just passed the bookstore and made a hard right to take cover under the gas station roof. He let out a small breath of relief and relaxed for a bit. Souji stood under the roof and watched the rain, wondering when it would pass. “I wonder if this place has a convenience store...”

While in thought, he didn’t realize that the gas station attendant walked up and stood right next to him. Although, it didn’t surprise him so much when he said “Hey there.”

Souji turned to the voice to see the familiar gas station attendant. He was wearing his red uniform, yet the boldness of the red was toned down by the rain. He wore his red cap that said “Moel Oil,” also labeled on a name tag on his chest. He fiddled with the pen in his pocket while the atmosphere complimented his wavy ash hair, somewhat similar to Souji’s, but a bit darker. “That bored, huh? I saw you wandering around a bit before it started raining, heh.”

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Souji replied. He looked back at the rainy sky and his eyes lit up as he remembered something. “Hey, you talked about needing part-time help here, right?” he asked the attendant.

“Hm? Oh yeah, it’s nice of you to remember. I could use a bit of company every now and then.”

“You’re welcome. So, could you tell when there’s an opening?”

“What if I told you we already have a uniform prepared just for you?” he said while grinning.

“That’s great, thanks.” Then Souji paused. “Wait, so I can start today?”

The attendant started to laugh a bit. “Ha! Nah, but I like your enthusiasm. I mean, I could give you the uniform right now, you sign a bit of papers and I can teach you a bit before you actually start. Not that you’ll get paid for today, of course.”

He gently smiled. “Thank you very much. I‘ll be sure to work hard,” he said with the newfound motivation he had received from the past few days.

“You totally will, kiddo!”

He gave the kid a finger gun then the attendant hopped away, somewhere to the right of the convenience store while Souji waited. He listened as the raindrops violently crashed against the concrete. “I wonder if it’ll rain tomorrow...” He continued to wait and fixed his collar. While getting lost in thought, the attendant came back. The man awkwardly held a uniform set in a plastic packaging, a few manuals and a clipboard.

“D-do you need help?” Souji stuttered while reaching his hand out.

“Nah! Not really. But thanks, kiddo!” he said before the clipboard fell from his arms. “Oh!” he yelped.

Souji managed to catch it before it fell on the ground. He looked at it and read the words “Application Sheet.” He looked at the man in front of him as he adjusted the pile in his arms.

“So you’ll be needing these! Your uniform of course, and manuals for all the equipment! It also has segments for maintenance and all that jazz, I’ve even left notes to make it a bit quicker to take in. Nothing about the convening store, yet. But anyway— I’ll be teaching you most of it when we start working, but you can read it in advance if you want, heh.” He handed Souji the pile while the boy decided to take it into his own arms bit by bit into a more organized stack.

“Thank you. I can bring these home and—” The sound of crashing rain came back to him. He looked away and drooped his shoulders in response.

“What’s the problem? Oh! It’s gonna be hard to carry all the back. I’ll get a bag!” He quickly rushed back to the side of the store, which Souji implied was the back room.

“Oh no, that’s not it!” Souji ended up sighing, but he did understand his soon-to-be-coworker’s politeness.

He looked at and fixed the pile in his arms. The manuals were right under the uniform and the hat was flattened. It looked like it would be terribly wrinkly if he took it out. “Maybe with a few washes it would look okay.”

The attendant came out with a paper bag and opened it right under Souji’s arms. “You can drop ‘em in here!” he said excitedly. “Oh, but leave the clipboard out, I gotta explain that.”

Souji carefully put the pile into the bag and gently took it from the attendant with one arm, and held the clipboard in the same hand. “Thank you,” he said, though a bit lacking.

The attendant smiled for a bit until realizing the actual problem. “Oh yeah,” he said out loud. He reached behind his back and brought out an umbrella and chimed, “ta-da!” and for a second, Souji could hear an entire audience clapping and cheering as he said it.

“Here you go kid, ‘hope it isn’t too much for you.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m grateful you lent me an umbrella, actually.”

Souji accepted the umbrella with his other hand and looked at it. It was a white foldable umbrella with a red stripe going around the canopy by the brim. It was simple yet full of character, Souji felt.

The attendant fixed his cap and smiled at Souji. “Okay, about the application sheet. All you have to do is fill in a bit of personal information. You don’t have to totally complete it though! It’s totally okay. Heheh, even the emergency contact, like, who could get totally hurt out here? I mean, in the city, there’s a whole bunch of traffic accidents right? Was there ever a subway train one yet? Oh, wait, there have been these creepy murders happening recently, maybe you should totally fill it out—

“But anyway! You can go fill that up at home if it would ever take too long to fill it up here. Who would remember their parents’ contact number? It wouldn’t be a hassle though since you kids have phones and all that. But parents’ phone numbers? You can write down your guardian’s number instead. You did come from the city, and your uncle—was it?—picked you up from the station. You must live with him because you can’t you live with your parents in the city, right? They must be overseas and that’s why you’re left with your uncle—”

“I hear you,” Souji said. As he listened to this man prattle on and on, he skimmed the application sheet. “There aren’t much details I’ve forgotten and there isn’t much to fill up. So I can fill this up today, actually.” He laughed weakly then added, “I filled up more detailed forms before, so this wouldn’t be too hard. There’s nothing much for me to do today, so this is fine. And about my uncle? You’re kinda right.”

“Really? I see. Here’s a pen!” the attendant chimed as he passed him the pen from his pocket. He stood around for a while until he raised his brows at the highschooler’s arms full of things. “Yeah! I can lead you to the back room, there’s a table there and you can put down your things.”

So the chatty gas station attendant led Souji to the room beside the convenience store. It seems that it’s meant to be big, but the short ceiling and the bulky shelves made it look smaller. The shelves held tool boxes and snack boxes, and... more boxes. It also smelled of rubber from a few new spare tires here and there, Souji thought.

There was a couch that looked old, but also unused. A small refrigerator that doesn’t look like it was on at all. A sink that actually looked normal, with droplets of water at the bottom and a soap dispenser with a bit of bubbles around the spout. It was cluttered, and looked more like a storage room. There were places that were empty, and others full of knick knacks. But it was particularly clean, no dust flying around, like an organized mess.

And finally, a box covered with a sheet. The way it sloped down from the back made Souji think it was a television. A bit nudged into a corner, but still out in the open enough for the sheet to be throw off easily and the screen on full display. The closed space leaving no witnesses, and the cleanliness of the area meant that there wouldn’t be dust that look misplaced... 

He shuddered a bit as he realized this train of thought was making him think of the culprit throwing people into TVs.

The attendant spoke, “This is the break room, actually. I hang around here and the store most of the time. There really isn’t a lot to do—but don’t worry! I know the feel of a vehicle engine! But when it’s raining, I prefer hanging around outside, y’know?”

“Right...” Souji muttered under his breath.

The attendant gestured at the table and the chairs, as Souji took it as a hint to put down his things, sit and fill up the simple form.

* * *

Souji managed to get through the attendant’s chatter as he filled the form. He had experienced worse, of course. He finished the form and handed it to the attendant.

“So, you do live with your uncle, I see,” he commented as he read the sheet. “So, with the little terms and conditions bit here, you can work anytime you want! You’re a highschool student so I understand when you can’t come. I mean, there’s nothing to do here all the time, and sometimes, you have to do everything! It’s crazy, really.”

“I see. I might be able to be here by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? But didn’t the forecast say it would also rain again tomorrow? There’s almost nothing to do on rainy days... But you don’t get to slack off since I have more time to teach you how to _not_ blow up the gas station a hundred and a few ways— and counting!

“But hey... that means _I_ don’t get to slack off... But whatever! You’ll do great here, kiddo! And if you find a funner job, well then that’s great! Wait, is ‘funner’ a word?”

“I see,” Souji gently spoke up. “I’ll see when I can come. So thank you very much. I’ll see you next time, senpai.”

“Ooh, ‘senpai’! You’re really getting into this. But I’m pretty sure you’ll know everything I know and more in no time. That’s just how kids are nowadays. So yeah, welcome aboard!”

Souji picked up his bag full of manuals and his new uniform and made his leave. He waved goodbye to his new senpai as he carefully made his way home in the rain.


	2. Rank 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> >First day at work...
> 
> >You hear your senpai lively send you off.  
> >You feel like you know your senpai a bit better.

“Hey, I you know how quiet the shopping district usually is, right? Ever since that mega-store opened up, there hasn’t been as many people passing by. With all the murders that’s been happening, there’s been quite a buzz. I get that people’d be scared of such a thing, but it’s more like they’re excited. That there’s something big and fresh to talk about!— Oh, you’re here to work, aren’t you?” the attendant chattered on and on before getting to the point.

Souji nodded as he stood in the rain under the borrowed umbrella; the white one with the red stripe running around the brim of the canopy. “Yeah. Is there a changing room around here?”

“There’s a lavatory in the break room. Or just use the room itself since nobody else’s there. Here are the keys!”

He tossed Souji a key ring full of keys as it jingled. Souji took a glance while walking under the shade and wondered which was the right one for the break room.

“Oh, the one for the break room has a double diamond etching— I should teach you all about the keys, actually. Think you can find it?” he said with a cheeky tone.

“If it’s part of the job,” Souji replied as he took the challenge. He felt his way through the myriad of keys, feeling different etchings engraved onto each of them. He felt things as simple as a square, and some he couldn’t identify until he looked at it, such as a leaf. He finally got to the double diamond etching and showed it off.

“Ha! Good job, kiddo,” his senpai congratulated him. “I thought you’d look at all of it to try and find it, and I’m surprised you managed to find the right key so quickly! You know, I wasn’t too fond of putting lanky labels into each and every one of them. And besides, etching is pretty fun! It’s just a bunch of memorization, and it was like a little game when I tried to find out which symbol would be best for what. Like the double diamonds, I thought that break rooms would be where the people’d sit around and take a break so the double diamonds depict people! And the snowflake is for the freezer, the yen sign is for the money box, the drops for the oil, a box divided into nine partitions for the convenience store...

“Oh! Should I lead you to the break room, or..?”

“No, I think I remember where it is.”

“Good kid. You can take your time. Like anything’s gonna happen out here, heh.”

Souji scratched his head as he made his way to the break room’s lavatory. It was surprisingly clean, pretty fresh. But it wasn’t the usual lemony scent, or that one time this restaurant used a really strong rose smelling one. It was just a plain, fresh cleanser. It made him wonder if it was also the same in the public bathroom. “He must really have nothing to do...”

As he changed, he pondered quietly. “I wonder if he has a legend for all the keys? Or could it be in one of the manuals...”

He turned to look at himself in the mirror. The dullness of the lavatory light did tone down the boldness of the red, just like how the rain would. Souji decided to pop the collar, as usual. The cuffs of the sleeves wrapped around his wrists, and overall, the uniform felt pretty warm. He put a little pen in his own chest pocket, and a notepad in his pant pocket. He secured his belongings in a cubby in a shelf his senpai had prepared for him, evidenced by the sticky note that said, “it’s for your stuff, kiddo! :)”

Souji made his way outside, the sound of the pouring rain being loud as ever. The attendant greeted him, “Wow, you look good in that, kiddo!” Souji fixed his cap and smiled at the validation.

“Since I know there aren’t going to be many customers today, I’m gonna teach you how to operate the gas pump! But you kinda already know about that already, right, city boy? Then after that, I was thinking about maintenance. Then I’ll show you where the cash box is, oh! Then I’ll teach you about the convenience store— too bad not a lot of people actually come over, since there’s the Shiroku store and all that. But it is pretty convenient for the people who gas up, especially when it’s raining. I do get a lot more customers at night, they get weirder the later it gets, though.”

“Ah, so the convenience store is 24/7?” Souji asked.

He nodded. “Mhm. I do all the shifts there in the evening. The old folks who own the place take care of it in the morning, so when they get tired, I take over. I don’t do it all the time though, just when I wanna stay up all night. The thrill of this ‘graveyard shift’ is pretty amusing, like people trying to rob the place, or just be pretty loud. Being loud two in the morning is a crime too! Can’t people get that? I could teach you how to do maintenance for the store when you have more time, though.”

Souji nodded, and looked up as his senpai clapped his hands. “So, let’s get working!” the attendant enthusiastically announced.

* * *

As the hours flew by, Souji was being taught by his new senpai. Every once in a while, they would get customers needing to gas up. It was exciting to see the chatter that can come from complete strangers, Souji thought as he cleaned up a few cars from the rain. He also noticed how much his talkative senpai was knowledgeable on the recent rumors and gossip. He also knows his way around Inaba as he gives customers directions. There was a moment where he did a little pop quiz on him about Inaba urban legends and traditions, such as the fox who lives in the shrine, and the unique flowers by the riverbank.

* * *

His senpai had been wiping a car window with a rag that would usually stick out of his back pocket. Souji began to fill up the car tank while he heard his senpai speak,

“Remember, you wash the _car_ windows! Not the _store_ windows!”

Souji quickly looked back at his senpai with a face that says he was caught off guard. 

“What? Just making sure you knew.”

* * *

Souji was bombarded with tasks and lessons, but honestly, it was a whole lot of chit chat, yet he knew it would become routine to him as he would get used to it. He and the attendant watched the rain, as his shift was almost at its end.

“So, what do kids like you like to do? Other than part-time jobs, that is,” the attendant spoke up. “A city boy like you should’ve found a way to spice things up, right?”

“Spice things up, huh?” Souji mused. “Well, I’m pretty busy with dinner at night, but my cousin does the shopping herself every once in a while.”

“Ah, so you’re a good boy who does the cooking for the family, I see. Your details said it was just you, your uncle and cousin, so I get it.”

‘Good boy...’ Souji’s face turned pensive. “Well, I taught myself most of it, since my parents were out often...”

“Hmm, I think I get the picture,” he muttered. “Your parents are probably workaholics and even overseas, explaining why you’re out here in the sticks stuck with your uncle. You pretty much know how to live by yourself at this point, I’m guessing.”

“Ha... You’re pretty on point.”

“Wow, I am? Haha! But— I guess your thing isn’t something to be laughed about. A kid, growing up too fast...”

They both turned silent, while rain filled their ears instead.

* * *

The rain started to get lighter. The attendant continued to stare at the sky. “Your shift’s over now, if you’re wondering. Great first day, kiddo!” He turned to Souji with a smile. “I’ll go get your paycheck,” he said before turning heel for the cash box.

“Alright,” Souji nodded. He thought quietly about his senpai, he’d be too exhausted to think about the workload he’d have to do the next time he came to work. ‘...I shouldn’t think too much.’

His senpai came running back with a neatly sealed envelope in his hands. He passed it to Souji while saying, “Here, kiddo! ‘Hope to see you again soon.”

Souji gratefully accepted the envelope and thanked his senpai, “Thank you very much. I’ll see you soon.”

He changed and got his things. He looked through his bag, but as he looked at the white umbrella, he frowned. “I forgot to bring my own umbrella again... But that’s what I get for thinking it would be bad if I were late.”

He went outside and saw his senpai looking across the street, standing at his usual spot. “Senpai,” he called, “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to borrow your umbrella again.”

“Oh? You forgot your own?” he turned around and asked.

Souji averted his eyes for a quick second and nodded.

The attendant snickered. “D’oh, don’t sweat it. As long as you remember to give it back!”

“Thank you very much.”

Souji opened the umbrella and stepped out of the gas station’s shade. He heard his senpai who was barely a distance away holler, “Stay safe going home!” and flinched at his loud voice. He brushed it off and waved at him goodbye. His senpai waved back in a quick, fluttery motion.

And Souji went home in the rain.


	3. Rank 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> > You worked at the gas station.  
> > You feel a bit lightheaded... But you got through the day just fine.
> 
> > You hear Nanako greet you home, but you started to ponder as she was concerned about the weather today.

It was a sunny afternoon. Souji stood in front of Moel, clutching his bag by the strap. “Senpai doesn’t look like he’s around,” he muttered to himself.

He walked over to the break room door and turned the knob. “It’s... unlocked.”

It didn’t look like anything was moved as the room stayed the same. Even its peculiar tidiness. Souji changed into his uniform and got to work. He attended to a few customers by himself and pondered quietly between each car he had to gas up. “Where’s senpai? Did he wander around because it’s boring out here? Or is he in the store?” Souji asked to himself.

“It’s also pretty different... Maybe because it isn’t raining?” He looked at the clear sky as the area sounded quiet, other than the beetles and cicadas making their music.

* * *

“Thanks for the help, kid,” the man said as he handed Souji the payment from his car. “'Never thought this place even needed help, but hey, if this keeps me from getting out all the time, heh.”

Souji paused for a second, a pensive look laid on his face. He quickly snapped back and hurriedly replied, “Ah, you’re welcome, sir. Please come again.”

“Don’t worry about it. Not like I expect the service to be perfect. I mean as long as there’s service, haha!” the man laughed heartily.

Souji watched the car drive out as he wiped the nozzle’s spout. He put back the nozzle and returned into deep thought.

* * *

It’s been two hours since he started working by himself, and half an hour since the last customer. Souji tapped his feet as he stood patiently by the gas pump. He hummed a tune, hoping he’d feel less bored. ‘I wonder if I’ll ever get taught on how to take care of the store... Wait, I don’t have senpai’s number yet, do I? And why is the break room outside the store? Or does that one door connect to the store..?’

While he hummed and pondered, the store’s door jingled open and an old couple approached him. “What a fine little tune you have there, sonny,” the old man commented.

Souji quickly fixed his hat and gently bowed to the elderly couple. “Ah, it’s nice to meet you. You're the owners of this gas station, Moel, I assume?”

“Ah, yes we are,” the old lady replied. “Yet, I wonder. Does your dandy little hat truly say ‘Moel’?”

The old man fixed the glasses that had rested crookedly on his nose. “Yes my dear, it does.”

“My, I wonder when we had helpers here. Did you get any to help, sweetheart?”

Souji tilted his head slightly at the comment. “Do you not have workers here, ma’am?”

“Oh darling, this fine young man must be the one doing all that other work!”

“Other work? Ah yes, the work we can’t do because of our ill, aching backs.”

They turned to Souji with a gentle smile. “Thank you, young man. We are absolutely grateful for all your help.”

“Especially that one time the gas pump hose!”

“And the all that paperwork with recording all the payments for our suppliers!”

“Oh, and arranging the store shelves!”

“And cleaning up in the evening.”

“So much more...”

The old woman turned to the boy. “You’ve been such a great help, sonny.”

The old man nodded his head. “Please, take your keep.”

Souji looked more and more confused as he thought the old couple must have been spouting nonsense. The two gave him another gentle smile. Souji bowed as they made their way back to the convenience store.

‘Do they... not know about senpai?’ Souji mused. He thought about it for a bit until he felt a knocking on his head. “Wow, a headache..?”

His pain was fortunately drowned out by the sound of the abrupt downpour. But it felt surprising to Souji as it came so suddenly, and so strongly. He distracted himself by looking into the distance, as the street became a bit misty with the sudden rain.

“Whoo!” Souji heard. He turned around to see his senpai running towards the gas station. He ran under the roof and panted for a bit before composing himself. “Hey kiddo, sorry about the wait.”

He took a breath before speaking. “I was busy trying to settle things with our gasoline supplier. I called them up for a follow up, but apparently they had something going on, so I hung up! I called again to see if I can discuss with them in person, and so I could see what was going on for myself, haha. Apparently, the gas carrier couldn’t come yesterday because of the rain. I mean, their carriers can work just fine, but the rain that day was epic! They just wanted to be safe of course. Yeah, and then I got caught up with this infighting, like, it looked fun and—

“Oh yeah, I’ve been gone for quite a while. Whoopsie. But thanks for holding down the fort, kiddo! ‘Nice to see you holding up just fine—but it’s not like it was too difficult or anything. It isn’t maintenance day so it’s all easy. Hey! Maybe I could spice it up by teaching you how to handle the store. That should be fun!”

The attendant prattled on and on while Souji endured the jibber jabber his senpai had to offer. Just as Souji found a chance, he asked, “Senpai, do the owners here... not know about you?”

“Hm? What do you mean? I work here, of course they’d know me.”

His surroundings suddenly felt colder, Souji thought.

“No, it’s as if they aren’t aware that someone’s working for them. They don’t think of you as an employee, but someone who’s been mysteriously helping them.”

“Huh, then what about our paycheck? They aren’t too rattled about me taking their money without asking? Ha.”

“They want you to ‘take your keep’ because you’ve been helping out.”

“Hmm,” he hummed. “Bah, that’s just how old folks are, kid. Not sure if you know, but they are old. Their noggins forget things every now and then, and when they try to remember, they make things up! You can’t blame ‘em.”

Souji strained his ears as he tried to listen to his senpai in the crashing rain. He rubbed his eyes in the middle of him talking, trying to get himself together.

“You don’t have to worry about it! Everything ends up just fine, and if you wanna stop working, it’s totally okay with me. Heh—wait, I don’t mean to sound passive aggressive or anything, am I?” he chattered.

“Ah, okay. I’m sorry if it sounded like I was doubting you. And it’s fine, I get it.”

He patted his junior on the back. “You’ve been doing great! You can work for a few more hours, if you can. I could even help you with your homework if we aren’t doing anything, if you want, heh.”

“Haha, there’s no need.”

Souji felt a sudden chill go up him. ‘It‘s just cold’ he thought.

The two worked another slow day together. His senpai chatting it up every now and then as they waited for another person to gas up.

* * *

Just through the rainy clouds, the orange looked like the sun began to set. “I should get going,” Souji told his senpai.

The attendant smirked at him and nodded. “Yeah, I can see your little cousin getting worried.”

“Oh, have you seen her? With your job and all, she does pass by here a lot.”

“Might’ve, I see a lot of people.”

“Figures.”

Souji went off to change as his senpai prepared his paycheck as usual. He looked through his things and found the red striped umbrella he borrowed. He sighed at himself for not bringing his own umbrella, again, so he could return his senpai’s. He went out with his bag in one hand and the umbrella in the other.

“Be careful going home, kiddo!”

“Oh, senpai, I’m sorry for not being able to return your umbrella the last time...”

“It’s totally fine, kid.”

“But... would it be okay to borrow it again? I forgot to bring my own.”

“Ha! You don’t have to ask, you just return it when you can. Just get home! That’s more important, right?”

Souji smiled at his senpai and opened up the umbrella. He looked at it again and noticed a light herringbone pattern, if he got the name right. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah! See you soon!”

* * *

He came back home. The rain fortunately died down into a drizzle on the way.

“Welcome home, are you okay?” Nanako asked as Souji entered.

After retracting and shaking the umbrella outside, he set it aside. “I’m fine, Nanako, what’s up?”

“Well... it started raining today. But the forecast didn’t say anything about it raining in the afternoon! I had to bring in all the laundry really quickly, too. But it’s okay, they’re all dry!”

“Ah, that’s good,” Souji said. ‘Wasn’t in the forecast? Not like it’s perfect all the time, but...’


End file.
